Kampala, (UG): A Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier at the rank of Private is in security detention after he was arrested for allegedly promoting himself to the rank of Major and masquerading as such, the Ugandan army said on Friday.
According to a post via X on the army’s official account, the soldier only identified as Kyambadde faces charges related to impersonation among other discipline cases and will be arraigned in the army court to answer the charges.
“Private Kyambadde has been masquerading as a UPDF senior officer at the rank of Major. He is in our custody and will be answering to charges of impersonation and other activities prejudicial to good order and discipline of the UPDF,” the post on UPDF’s official X account read.
When contacted for a confirmation of the report, the army spokesperson, Brig. Gen Felix Kulayigye affirmed that the suspect who is now in security hands will soon be arraigned in court and charged accordingly.
“..yes, he has been masquerading as a Major, but I can’t tell when he started. The bottom line is we have him in our custody for that reason. I am told he has been involved in criminal activities, but we are still investigating,” Brig Gen Kulayigye said on Friday.
Pte Kyambandde is not the first soldier to be accused of impersonation as several other related cases have been reported in the armed Forces before.
For example, in February last year, police in Buyende District arrested a woman identified as Eunice Keinembabazi who had allegedly been posing as a Colonel. At the time of her arrest, Keinembabazi had allegedly conned unsuspecting victims of about Shs15 million.
Asked why such incidents of impersonation and self-promotion keep coming up in the army, Kulayigye said whereas such cases keep happening, there is not much the UPDF can do to contain them, beyond charging the suspects before court.
“What is being done is that whoever errors we punish according to the law,” he said.
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